Tennis-scorer



(No Model.)

W. G. PHELPS. TENNIS SGORER.

No. 418,055. Patented Dec. 24, 1889.

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the inclosing-case.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM G. PHELPS, or ST. LoUIS, MISSOURI.

' TENNIS-SCORER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 418,055, dated December24, 1889.

Application filed May 25, 1889. Serial No. 312,149- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM G. PHELPS, of St. Louis, Missouri, have madea new and useful Improvement in Tennis-Scorers, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact description.

My improvement is a device used by a tennis player-for keeping the scoreof the game The scores of both sides can be kept, and of the set ofgames, as well as of each .single game as it is played. It can be Wornby the player as a badge, and this form of the improvement is, perhaps,as de-' sirable as any for reference or adjustment. ButI prefer not tobe restricted thereto. The scorer, for instance, may be attached to orembodied in a tennis-racket, the details of which combination are nothere set forth, but

will be made the subject-matter of a separate I application forLetters'Patent.

The most desirable mode of carrying out the improvement is shown in theannexed drawings, making part of this specification, in Which- Figure 1is a view in perspective of the scorer; Fig. 2, a front elevationthereof, the score-cylinders at one end of the device being showndetached from their respective containing cases; Fig. 3, a longitudinalsection on the line 3 3 of Fig. 4, which in turn is a cross-section onthe line 4 4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a representation, in a developed form,of the surfaces of the score-cylinders of the set part of the scorer.Fig. 6 is a similar development of the game part of thescorer; Fig. 7, across-section on the line 7 8 of Fig. 2, the scorecylinder beingadjusted to bring its catch into engagement with the inclosing-case; andFig. 8, a similar cross-section, the score-cylinder being adjusted todisengage its catch from The last two views are upon an enlarged scale.

The same letters of reference denote the same parts.

A, Fig. 1, represents the scorer. In its most complete form it compriseswhat may be termed the game-scorer aand the setscorer a, and the twoscorers are preferably united, and preferably by means of the bars a aand the device is provided with a pin of, to enable it to be pinned likea badge to the dress of the player. The two scores a a c in the case 0.

are substantially similar, the only difference being in the charactersused, the characters of thescorer a being adapted to the points or termsused in playing a game, and of the scorer a being adapted for numberinga set of games as they are played. these scorers can be used separatelyfrom each other, it is quite an advantage in having them in immediateproximity to each other, as thereby the player can at a single glanceascertain both the score of the particular game being played and alsothe score of the set of games; and it is further an advantage in havingthe scorers a a united by bars a substantially as shown, as thereby inadjusting or upturning one of the scorers so that it can be read, theother of the scorers is is also adjusted so that it can be read.

Two leading features characterize each scorer a athe provision forkeeping the scores of both parties to the game, and the provisionwhereby, in the game-scorer a, the score at the vantage point can beconveniently increased or reduced in accordance with the rules oftennis. To these ends each scorer a a is made to consist, substantially,of two score-cylinders and an inclosing-case.

B and B represent the score-cylinders of the game-scorer a, and O theirinclosingcase. D and D represent the score-cylinders of the set-scorera, and E their inclosingcase. The cylinder B occupies one end of thecase 0, and by means of its stem 1) it can be rotated therein. Thecylinder B occupies the opposite end of the case 0, and by means of itsstem 1) it can be similarly rotated in the case. The cylinders D D arein an analogous manner provided, respectively, with the stems d and dand arranged and operated in the case E. The surfaces 1) of thecylinders B B are respectively marked or provided with the series ofwords and numbers shown at F. and F, respectively, Fig. 6, the series Fextending around the cylinder B and the series F around the cylinder BBy rotating the cylinder B the words and figures Love, 15, &c., can bebrought successively into view through the opening 0 in the case 0, andby rotating the cylinder B the words and figures of the series F can bebrought successively into view through the opening The surfaces (1 ofthe cyllVhile each of inders D D are similarly and respectively providedwith the two series of numbers shown, respectively, at G and G, Fig. 5,and said numbers in the rotation of the cylinders D D are similarlyexposed at the openings e and e in the case E. To enable the cylinders BB to be held at any desired point in their rotations, they are eachprovided with a catchsay in the form of a springactuated bolt Hwhichcoacts with a series of openings or indentations h in theinclosing-case. The openings or indentations h correspond in number withthe number of the words and figures of the series F F, and the parts arecontrived so that when a word or figure of the series F F is exposedthrough the opening 0 c in the case 0 the catch shall enter an openingor indentation h, Fig. 7 but by applying sufiicient force to the stem 1)b the catch can be made to yield and the cylinder be rotated whendesired. The position of the catch when it is not in engagement with thecase is shown in Fig. 8.

The scorer is operated as follows: As one of the sidessay theserver-makes a point, the player rotates the cylinder B to bring thepointsay the point 30 into View, as shown in Fig. 2, and as point afterpoint is made the cylinder B is rotated accordingly. As the oppositeside scores, the player rotates and adjusts the other cylinder B in thecase accordinglythat is, the cylinders B B can be rotated independentlyof each other, and the player is thus enabled to keep the score of hisown and also of the opposing side. As the vantage-point is reached, itbecomes es sential in practice to be able to increase or to reduce thescore according to the well-understood rules of the game. To this endthe cylinders B and B can be rotated either forward or backward in thecase C. The scorer a is similarly operated that is, as fast as a sidescores a game the cylinder D is rotated point by point until the set ofgames is played, and meanwhile the player operates the other cylinder Daccording to the games won by the opposite side. By this means a playercan readily and accurately inform himself of the state of the game atany stage thereof. The openings 0 c in the case 0, as well as theopenings 6 e in the case E, are preferably toward the upper front of thecases 0 E, respectively, to enable the player, when the scorer is wornas a badge, to readily see the score by casting his eye downward.

So far as providing a scorer with a double scorer for keeping the scoresof both sides is concerned, I desire not to be limited to a rotatingscore-bearing part, such as the scorecylinders B B. Neither do I wish tobe restricted to a rotating score-bearing part so far as combining aset-scorer with a game-scorer is concerned.

I desire not to be confined to the game of tennis in the use of thepresent scorer.

The cases 0 and E are tubular, and the rotary score-cylinders fit intheir open ends with the marks on said cylinders registering with theapertures in the corresponding cases. Centrally within each case is anaxially-perforated block, in the perforation of which journals on theinner ends of the corresponding score-cylinders fit and turn, giving thesaid cylinders an internal hearing, as shown in Fig. 3. Eachscore-cylinder has a cap that fits over the adjacent end of thecorresponding case, and has a central perforation through which the stemof said cylinder passes. These caps prevent dust from entering thecases.

lclaim- 1. In agame-scorer, the combination of the tubular casing openat both ends and provided with suitable apertures, the perforatedcentral bearing-block therein, the score-cylinders having journals attheir inner ends seated in said block and provided with scores or markson their circumferences to register with the corresponding apertures inthe easing, the caps fitting on the ends of the casin g and perforatedcentrally for the reception of the stems of the score-cylinders, and thespring-catches attached to the said cylinders and engaging in openingsin the casings, substantially as specified. V

2. The herein-described game-scorer, composed of the upper and lowertubular casings E C, respectively connected by bars a the pin a seatedin said bars, by means of which the device can be attached to the dressof a player, the score-cylinders seated and provided with scores ormarks arranged to'register with the apertures in the cases, and thespring-catches to hold said cylinders in the positions to which theyhave been turned, substantially as specified.

lVitness my hand this 21st day of May, 1889.

WVILLIAM G. PHELPS.

\Vitnesses:

O. D. MOODY, D. W. A. SANFORD.

